Drought Update – August 27, 2012
The continental United States is parched, with 63% of the lower 48 states experiencing moderate to exceptional drought, according to the August 21 U.S. Drought Monitor. Crop insurance is helping farmers pick up the pieces. So far in 2012: Farmers have invested more than $4 billion to purchase more than 1.1 million crop insurance policies. […]
Crop Insurance Saved Taxpayers $10.4 Billion Since 2002
Federal crop insurance has come in under budget every year since 2002 – the last year of major revisions to the program – saving taxpayers more than $10.4 billion in projected spending, according to a new analysis of Congressional Budget Office (CBO) data. The savings, taken as the difference between the projected cost of the […]
Crop Insurance A Key to Credit Access, Bankers Tell House Subcommittee
Several witnesses representing key agriculture lending institutions and credit agencies told members of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, and Credit that access to credit is essential for farmers and crop insurance plays an important role in that access. The hearing, held May 10, went largely unnoticed but is pertinent given the […]
Crop Insurance Helped Mississippi Farmers See Yet Another Spring
The state of Mississippi and farming are so intertwined that it is hard to imagine one without the other. Agriculture is not only our state’s number one industry; it employs roughly one-third of our population, contributing $5.8 billion to the state’s economy. There are approximately 42,000 farms in the state covering 11 million acres, producing […]
Matt Huie – A Personal Face On The Farming Crisis
My grandparents’ children left the farm in pursuit of city jobs, but I loved everything about that life. So when I got the opportunity to move in with my grandparents at age 16, I didn’t hesitate. After college, I made the decision to become a full-time farmer. Today, I live on a ranch about a […]
Farm Bill Principles and Crop Insurance
America’s abundance of affordable and nutritious food is the envy of the world. This is not an accident, as our long history of investment in agricultural infrastructure has made this possible. Underpinning this system is crop insurance’s modern public/private partnership that provides a safety net for farmers, helping them manage price and weather risks. USDA’s […]
